


A Little Magic Never Hurt Anybody... Until it Did

by Varmint (orphan_account)



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Bullying, Mistaken Identity, Other, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-16 12:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7268185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Varmint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rin's secret came out, his friends didn't react too well. Actually, Shima was the only one to come to accept him. And this has led to Shima suffering bullying from those he once called friends, but Rin doesn't know about it. As the pink haired boy tries to cope with his difficult circumstances, he finds a dog and immediately grows attached to it. Too bad it's Mephisto.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ever since Rin exposed himself as Satan's son his only real friend proved to be Renzou Shima. The pink haired teen had- at first- excluded Rin like the rest of his peers. But he was too laid back and careless to remember to hate the half-demon and ignore him. So, after a few weeks of failing to ostracize the other boy, Shima just gave up and began to speak openly with him.

This caused discord in the classroom, naturally. As time passed and Bon openly showed his disdain for his ex-friend, the seating arrangement shifted. Currently, Rin and Shima sat on the left side of the classroom at the very front, Izumo two rows behind, while the rest sat to the right. Even Shiemi had moved, but it was because she was too shy to stand up for herself.

"Nii-San. Renzou. Please. If I have to call on you once more I shall punish you with the Bariyons." Yukio Okumura growled, pushing his glasses upwards as he glared at the two boys.

This immediately shut the laughing teens up, seeing how they didn't want to receive that kind of punishment.

"It was about damn time."

Rin turned angrily to the person that had spoken, who turned out to be none other than Suguro. "What did you say, bastard?" Rin growled, raising his fist at the other.

Bon immediately stood up, glaring at the half-demon. "You heard me! It was about time somebody shut you two up!"

Rin stood up as soon as soon as he said that, Shima right behind him to try and calm the smaller teen down. "Why don't you say it to my face instead of standing where my fists can't reach you?!"

"Rin, please. Calm down. You don't have to pick a fight with him." Renzou muttered, trying to pull him back into his chair.

But Rin was as much a hothead as Ryuuji and didn't feel like allowing him to insult him and Shima whenever he felt like it. And... Bon... Well, Bon had an even worse temper than Rin.

"You lie and keep the truth from us, and now you threaten us? You really are the worst kind of scum!"

If Shima hadn't been holding onto him, Satan's son would have jumped past all the seats and tackled Bon to the ground. Both heated boys tried their best to escape the people's that were holding them back- seeing how Konekomaru and Shiemi were both restraining Ryuuji- all the while Yukio glared at both of them in silence.

This sight had become too normal in the past few days and the teacher was beginning to get tired of it. His brother needed to learn control and Suguro had to come to terms with how different his classmate was.

The screams and threats escalated to a point that poor Shiemi seemed to be about ready to burst into tears. When the first sniffle escaped her, Yukio slammed his hands onto his desk with a dangerous glare on his face.

"Rin! Suguro! You two will bee staying after class for your punishment!" His eyes flashed dangerously as both teens looked at him with wide eyes, "The rest may leave now."

No one objected as the students filed out of the classroom, knowing better than to argue with their teacher in this mood.

Shima sighed softly as he walked out of the school, shoving his hands into his pockets while he kicked at nothing. He had no friends anymore apart from Rin and, by default, didn't really have anywhere to go. He roomed with Bon and Konekomaru and another student named Misaki, but he didn't feel like getting into an argument with the short teen.

So, instead of heading towards his dorm, the teen just walked to a nearby park and sat down on a bench. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a second, throwing his arms over the back of the bench to try and relax.

It was after he opened his eyes that he noticed the small white dog sitting beside him, looking up at him with lazy looking eyes.

"Hey, dog..." He greeted, moving his hand over the canine, "Would you mind if I pet you?" He asked with a soft smile, not wanting the animal to run off.

The dog- which looked like a really white and long haired version of a schnauzer to Shima- only blinked up at him. Honestly, he had no idea why he had asked the dog for permission. But still he took the lack of running away from the dog as an okay to pet him. So Shima did just that, opting to just pet at the dog's head.

From the way the dog's eyes widened slightly but then calmed and started to droop, Shima could tell he was liking the affection.

His whole afternoon was spent petting and cuddling the mysterious white dog with the odd droopy eyes. And when the time came to go back to school and report to his supervisor, the pink haired boy snuck into Rin's room with a broad smile on his face and the dog hidden inside his jacket.

"Shima? What are you doing here?" The blue eyed boy asked as he sat up on his bed, soft frown in place.

He may not have known Shima for very long, but he was certain of one thing. His fellow Cram School student was not the reckless kind. And being outside of his dorm after lights out and inside one where he could get caught by a teacher was a pretty clear example of recklessness.

"Rin! I need you to help me!" Shima spoke in an urgent whisper and that was when the half-demon noticed that whatever object was bundled into Shima's jacket was able to move. "Can you keep a secret?"

Without bothering to point out how badly keeping his own secret had gone, Rin walked towards his friend, eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "What do you need?"

Shima turned to make sure the door behind him was locked, then pulled the jacket off the object with an impossibly bright grin.

Rin couldn't help the grimace that grazed his features when he recognized Mephisto's dog form panting and staring up at him with those damned lazy eyes.

"He's really well behaved, Rin. Look, Puppy," Shima began after he noticed Rin's apprehension while placing the dog on the floor. "Hide beneath the bed."

The white dog immediately took off running and scurried to hide underneath the bed, only to be rewarded with a smile from Shima and a disinterested frown from Rin.

"Renzou, I can't keep him here! I room with Yukio!" He sighed, turning to his friend while opting to ignore the fact that his headmaster was hiding beneath his bed. "Our teacher."

"I know, but I have even less chances of keeping him!" Shima sighed as he scratched at the back of his head, "I room with _three_ other guys."

Rin rolled his eyes and was about to tell his friend that there was no way to keep this dog from his brother, but suddenly found the pink haired boy clinging to his shirt, staring up at him with pleading eyes. " _Please_ , Rin!"

The half-demon tried his best to resist his friend, he really did. But after a few more seconds of Shima looking up at him with such heart broken eyes, he was ashamed to say he cracked.

"Fine. He can stay _tonight._ "

The hug he received from the ecstatic Shima was almost payment enough to having Mephisto in his room right now.


	2. Chapter 2

After a few- or a lot- of thanks and promises from his friend, Rin was finally able to get rid of Shima. And as soon as the pink haired boy was gone, Rin turned to the dog, only to find the smirking face of his school's headmaster.

"Mephisto! What are you doing with Shima?" Rin immediately asked, suspicious as to what the demon's intention really were. "What are you up to?"

Mephisto laid down on the bed that belonged to Yukio, smiling in an almost taunting manner at the half demon.

"Now, Rin, isn't it rude to talk in such a manner to your elder brother? You don't have to be so disrespectful."

Rin growled and bared his teeth at the elder demon, already angered by his nonchalant attitude. "What are you trying to pull with Shima? He's an innocent human and he-"

"I'm not going to do anything to him, young one. I am merely offering that sad boy a companion."

Rin's anger immediately dissipated and his ears lowered slightly, now curious, "Sad boy? What do you mean?"

Mephisto stood up from the bed with a soft frown, "Humans have a varying range of emotions, don't they?" He hummed, sounding slightly mysterious as he made his way to the door. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will be heading back to my office."

This caused a type of subdued panic to rise in Rin, "But Shima wants you to stay here!" He said, running in front of the door to stop the demon from leaving. "I can't let you leave! He'll get _so_ mad with me if he doesn't find the dog here tomorrow."

Mephisto pushed Rin away from the door by his face, rolling his eyes at the boy, and stepped out of the room, "Don't worry about that. I'll be back before morning." Then he turned to Rin, dangerous smirk in place. "Renzou Shima... _intrigues_ me."

Rin blinked after the demon as he walked down the hallways, whistling a happy tune as he did so.

The half demon didn't know exactly _how_ to feel about the situation he found himself in.

His best friend had befriended his half brother... But he didn't even know it was Mephisto because the demon was disguised as a dog... And Shima had already formed some kind of connection to the dog...

* * *

"Oh, you're such a good dog!" Shima chuckled as the dog licked at his face, "You did good by biting Rin! You sure did!"

The half demon was thrown back on the floor of his room with a horrified expression on his face, terrified after Mephisto had attacked him on Shima's orders. His hands and feet were twitching slightly and Shima couldn't help but laugh full out at his friend.

"Come on, Okumura! This is a dog! Not some kind of vicious animal!" He taunted the half-demon.

Rin sat up with a frown and mumbled quietly enough to not be heard by the boy, "You've got no idea."

But apparently Mephisto did hear, because the next thing Rin knew was that he glared dangerously at him, even as Shima held him in his arms. Rin gasped slightly as he jumped away from the dangerous animal, then sighed.

"Shima... Don't you think we should be heading out now?" Rin asked almost shakily, not wanting to give the dog any more reasons to be angered.

Shima looked down at the dog with sadness in his heart but still sighed and stood up. "Yeah. We _should_ get going. I don't think the teachers would appreciate seeing two of their students sneaking out of the dorms during lunch."

The dog barked, trying to grab the attention of both boys.

"What is it, boy?" Shima asked as he crouched in front of him, raising his hand to rub its head.

But instead of allowing Shima to touch him, the dog jumped into his arms and started licking his face. Shima gasped at the sudden jump, but managed to right himself before they both fell over.

"Oh, boy, I can't take you to school! You already know this." Shima laughed at the overexcited dog, missing Rin's frown.

The half-demon was now standing in front of the door to his dorm, arms crossed as he looked at his friend interacting with the dog. This felt wrong.

Just why was his half-brother acting like such a _dog_?

After a few seconds of Shima laughing and the dog wagging his tail happily, Rin finally sighed and opened the door, "Lunch is about to end, Renzou. If we don't get going, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

Shima sighed as he picked the dog up and placed him back on the floor, getting up to turn to his friend. "Yeah. You're right."

Both boys started to walk out now, but Shima made sure to turn and wave at his newest companion before closing the door behind him.

The dog stayed seated on the floor for a few more seconds before he was sure that both Shima and Rin were gone, then he turned back into his usual form.

Mephisto sighed as he was finally able to stretch, his body feeling slightly tense. That Shima boy really knew how to wear a dog out!

Still, even with how tired he felt physically, he couldn't help but smile. Shima Renzou was an interesting boy.

* * *

By the time night had come, Shima had visited his puppy over at Rin's dorm some two more times before he had gone to his own room.

Quite honestly, he didn't want to go back to that place. Even though his fourth roommate wasn't the kind to join in on the insults and usually came in to stop Bon from going too far, Shima still felt overwhelmed whenever he was in their shared room.

Konekomaru and Suguro were both adamant on their stance against Satan's son and made it very clear that they did not like Shima being around him. And, at first, they had tried to convince him using reasoning and logic. They had tried to tell Shima that they were only worried about his well being whenever he was around the half-demon, but Shima had refused to listen to them. Who he was as a whole just did not allow him to be such a jerk to somebody that had been so kind to him.

And when they had noticed that Renzou was not about to give up on Rin, Konekomaru and Suguro had turned to insults. If reasoning and intelligence would not keep their friend from hanging out with the dangerous being, maybe the threat of being insulted would.

But this had failed miserably on the students because the insults only seemed to drive Shima away and further into Rin's evil hold. Well, at least, that's how the two saw it. As if Rin was _forcing_ their friend to hang out with him.

Now, though, the faint quips and barely felt insults had become something much nastier than what they had initially meant and had taken on a life of their own. Even though they had started off with a rather pure concern, Suguro and Konekomaru had taken their concern too far and twisted it into something ugly that made Shima wonder just what in the world had happened to his friends. His real friends.

He _really_ did not want to go into his room to face them at the moment. Couldn't he just run over to Rin's dorm again and stay there with his amazing dog?

No. He couldn't. And he knew it.

So Renzou took in a big breath as he stood in front of his room, steeled his resolve, and turned the doorknob.

Immediately he was met by a barrage from Ryuuji, asking him what he was doing getting there so late, where had he been, why hadn't he answered his phone, and more, all the while Konekomaru stood beside the larger teen with his arms crossed. The last student in the dorm was reading quietly by the corner of the room, even though his eyes flickered over to the three 'friends' every now and then to make sure Bon didn't get physical.

Shima allowed himself a small sigh before he smiled at Bon, trying his best to seem unfazed at everything that was said.

The lack of trust in him, though, was slowly taking its' toll on the pink haired teen and he knew his smile just wasn't as large as it should have been.


	3. Chapter 3

On the following day, Yukio gave his students their grades from a test they had taken about a week ago. Suguro- of course- had been extremely pleased with the A plus he had gotten, while Konekomaru only smiled softly at his A minus. Izumo scoffed softly even though she also got a good grade, even though Shiemi squealed in delight at her B plus. Finally, Rin smiled broadly at his B minus- which really was an accomplishment for him.

But Yukio did not hand Shima back his test. Instead, he dismissed the whole class, aside from the pink haired boy himself.

"Renzou... Your grades have been slipping."

Shima sighed softly at this with a nod. "I know, Mr. Okumura."

His head hung low and his eyes were closed. He had known that the grades he had recently been receiving had not been the best he could have ever gotten in his life, but he never thought they would get to be bad enough to have his teachers point them out. Because Mr. Okumura was not the only teacher voicing at his or her concern for his recent slips. Most of his teachers had already told him he would have to raise his grade if he would like to pass his school year.

Yukio's eyes softened as he took in the sight of the pink haired bow so downcast over what had happened. Softly he walked over to him with the test he had corrected, then set it down beside his arms.

Shima glared down at the paper that was filled with many red marks, but did not say anything.

"Do you see this?" Yukio asked, pointing at the only part of the paper that did not have any type of correction on it.

"Yeah..." Shima answered, unsure what his professor might say.

"This was utter brilliance, Shima. This answer proves to me that you understood _at least_ a small part of the lesson. Which leads me to believe that your problem is not paying attention or studying. It is something much more deep rooted than just that." Yukio told him in a kind and soft voice.

He did not want to come off as a stern instructor. At least, not at the moment. Renzou Shima was the kind of person that always smiled and made others smile. And Yukio knew for a fact that he did not respond well to harsh corrections or sharp criticism, unlike Rin. So he knew to get to Shima's real problem and help him, he would have to take a much kinder approach than the one he had used with his own brother.

"Have you been having any problems at home?" He asked, keeping his tone as light and caring as he could.

Immediately Shima's eyes widened and he shook his head, "Not at all, Mr. Okumura! I mean... The temple's had better days, but... Nothing I haven't seen before."

Yukio looked Shima over for a second, nodded, then asked, "How about at school? Have you been receiving any bullying problems?"

Shima's body tensed at the piercing look Yukio sent his way, but he forced himself to remain looking relaxed and shook his head. "No bullying whatsoever, Mr. Okumura. Really."

This answer made his teacher quirk an eyebrow, though, "You know what I call bullying, Shima?" Now Yukio made his way back over to his desk and took out a small notebook from one of its drawers. "Name calling. Insulting. Threatening with bodily harm. And carrying out said bodily harm." His eyebrows were narrowed as he opened the notebook, then he began to read, "Today Suguro and Konekomaru teamed up to insult my brother. Renzou Shima immediately jumped in to help Rin, and ended up receiving the brunt of the insults. He was called poor, stupid, and a few more colorful swear words I do not wish to write down."

Shima flinched at Yukio's tone, but didn't stop him.

"Would you like me to read about this week? Because to me it seems that those two have decided that words are not enough."

"It's nothing, Mr. Okumura, really!" Shima smiled, even though it felt completely fake to him, "It's just us boys being boys!" Then he shrugged and scratched at his chin, "You can't tell me you've never heard best friends insulting one another before."

Yukio, though, frowned at Shima's words, "Yes, I have. But I have never seen 'best friends' use such harsh words... Shima, if this is the reason why your grades are slipping, I am obliged to denounced both students to the headmaster for bullying."

Suddenly Renzou got up from his chair almost violently enough to knock it backwards all the while he shook his head wildly. "It's not that serious, Professor! Honest!"

Once more Yukio looked the teenage boy over, and Shima swore this time it felt as if he were looking right into his soul. With a shudder, the pink haired teen smiled softly, "I have just been having some trouble understanding what has been taught in school. But I know I can raise my grades, Professor, I swear!"

Yukio Okumura turned around now and thought of what he could do. Clearly, Shima was trying to cover up for his two old friends. Why, though, Yukio could just not understand. What could Shima possibly gain from not denouncing the two for bullying? His grades were slipping terribly and it was Yukio's job as his teacher to help him raise them... If Shima did not want his help, then maybe he could wait until he had more than enough proof that the boy's insults were more than just something between friends.

With a plan already forming in his mind, Yukio breathed out and turned to Shima once more.

"Fine. I will not tell Mephisto of this yet. _But_ I will assign you a tutor to help you raise those grades, okay? And you will not say anything about who I pick."

Shima kept quiet and nodded tensely and Yukio could tell he wanted to leave the room already. So with a wave, Yukio dismissed him. Without a second thought Renzou left the classroom and left Yukio to his own thoughts.

* * *

As soon as he was able to, Shima ran to Rin's room to see his dog. When he got there and opened the door, he found that while Rin was not there, his puppy was.

With a smile Shima called to the dog, who immediately perked up upon hearing his voice and ran at the human without any hesitation. Shima smiled broadly when the pup began to scratch at his legs then swooped down to pick him up.

"You are quite the dog, you know?" He asked the animal, even though his smile faded slowly.

The dog quirked its head upon seeing Shima's change of mood, and Shima noticed this. "Oh, it's nothing really, puppy." He shrugged, patting at its head. "Sometimes I just wish that Bon and Konekomaru would stop with the insults... Even Mr. Okumura has noticed... If he has, it's only a matter of time before the Headmaster is told and I _really_ don't want him to find out about it."

Inside of his head, Mephisto was wondering just why Shima would try protecting the humans that hurt him so much, but he just acted like a normal dog and began to bark at Shima. Even though he couldn't help him with the two mean kids yet, he could at least make Shima smile for a little while.

"What, you want to take a walk?" Shima asked then nodded to himself. "Of course you do. You've been stuck in here all day. Come on, puppy! We're going on an adventure!"

Mephisto smiled inwardly at the odd human and wagged his tail with one final bark.

This was the least he could do.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, Shima, are you hungry?" Rin asked the pink haired boy as they finished up with their homework. "I could really go for some food."

Shima glanced up from the homework assigned by Professor Okumura, then looked down at his dog to see the animal sleeping comfortably, curled up to his side. The teen smiled softly at how complacent and comfortable the dog looked, then nodded and looked back at Rin.

"Yeah, I could go for some food right now. And I don't think the dog would mind getting some food himself." Shima smiled at his friend, then began to get up from the bed and to pick up his books and notebooks.

Rin did the same and once everything had been placed in their backpacks, Shima poked the dog on the head and smiled down at him.

"Hey, puppy, want to go out for a small run? Want to have some fun? And then get some food?" He asked in a slight baby voice, which made Rin roll his eyes at his friend's stupidity, but soon enough the dog was barking excitedly and jumping up and down. "Rin, I think he wants to go with us."

"Oh really?" Rin asked sarcastically, but shook his head and motioned for Shima to follow him outside. "I would have never imagined your dog would've liked to get some human food to eat."

Shima rolled his eyes at Rin's words but smiled broadly at him, then whistled for the dog to follow them.

So on the two boys went and soon left the dorms and were out on the town.

"Where would you like to eat, Rin?" Shima asked as they made their way towards the busiest sectors of the place, where they would find most of the food shops.

"I'd eat just about anything, Shima. You know that."

Shima smirked at this, "Of course I know that... But it's proper to ask." Then he looked down at the dog that was running circles around both teenagers as they walked and couldn't help but chuckle.

Even with everything that had been happening with Konekomaru and Bon, at least Shima had his puppy. That one dog that always managed to make a smile appear on his face. And he would make sure that the dog was as happy as he could be while he was still around.

"Since when have you ever been proper, Renzou Shima?" Rin asked with a smirk on his face, then widened his eyes at the sight of one of his favorite restaurants appearing a few feet away from them. "Let's go! I'm starving!" He shouted then began to run towards the place.

The dog barked animatedly and took off running after Rin, even though Shima decided to walk like a normal person.

The sky had been setting for some time now and it was that peaceful hour right between day and night. The sky was not yet dark, but the moon could be seen. And there was still a bit of sun left to illuminate the way. Shima loved this time of day. It was just beautiful.

So caught up in his own musings was Shima that he didn't notice when two figures stepped out of the shadows from behind him and began to follow him. He didn't think there was anything that could go wrong with his rather peaceful day, so he did not think he would have to be careful as he walked.

But those thoughts of peace and serenity were dashed away when suddenly he felt someone push roughly at his shoulder and he tripped over his feet so badly that he almost fell over. At the forceful shove, Shima immediately turned around after having regained his footing to look at whoever had assaulted him, only to find that the person that had pushed him was actually two teenagers. Specifically, two teens he had seen hanging around Bon and Konekomaru a few days ago.

"May I help you with something?" Shima sighed with a disinterested air about him, all the while he crossed his arms.

Both teens were just about an inch or two taller than Shima. One was a red head with hair as wild as a march hare with dark blue eyes and an evil grin, all the while his companion had black hair and equally dark eyes. They did not seem as if they had good intentions.

"You... You're that Shima kid, aren't you?" The dark haired one asked, frown in place and making Shima feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah... Do you need anything with me?" He asked with a hopefully calm tone, all the while he hoped that he maintained his usual sense of calm and cool until Rin noticed that he had not joined them in the shop and came out to look for him.

Both males smirked at one another as soon as Shima asked this, then the red head stepped forward and grabbed Shima's shirt by the collar, "Actually, yeah. Word going round is that you are quite the tattle-tale. We know you were the one that told the Headmaster we were the ones selling the firecrackers!"

Everything that came out of that boy's mouth managed to confuse Shima. Tattle-tale? How could tell on someone he had never seen before in his life? And how could he have told the Headmaster on them if he hadn't even met with the Headmaster sense the first day's entrance ceremony? Just what were these two going on about?

"And you cost us quite the profit when the Headmaster took away our stash!" The dark haired one growled with a dangerous smirk, "We were thinking you'd be able to pay us back what you owe."

"I don't owe you anything." Shima bit back, "I did nothing to you and did not cost you anything. Now, if you'd please excuse me, this conversation became tiring and I have a place to go."

With that he slapped the red heade's hand away from him and turned around, beginning to walk away with steps that were both hurried and measured. He knew he could fight these guys. But he did not feel like getting into a fight just because these people had been misinformed.

"Fine! Act like that!" One of them shouted after him, but Shima only ignored him. "Don't be surprised when we come to collect, though, Shima Renzou! We're not about to let anyone steal anything from us!"

Shima only continued walking away and did not say anything. When he got to his destination, he found Rin about to walked out of the door, his dog biting down on Rin's leg and walking backwards as if he were trying to lead the half-demon out of the place.

"There you are, Shima!" Rin smiled at his friend, but frowned when he noticed the frown his friend wore. "Did something happen to you? Are you okay?"

The dog barked and began to run around Shima, sniffing at him to begin to growl. Shima quirked an eyebrow at the slightly aggressive behavior but bent down to pick the animal and began to pet it.

"Everything's okay, Rin. I just got caught up cloud watching... The sky is beautiful at this time..." Shima lied with an easy going smile, but Rin nodded slowly and muttered 'yea' in a sarcastic away. "Let's go eat, huh?" He asked, hoping Rin wouldn't say anything else.

His friend looked him over for a second, then at his dog, but finally nodded and held the door open for Shima to enter the establishment. Shima did so with a calm smile on his face, even though on the inside he was wondering just why he had been confronted by those two boys.


End file.
